Billed as a “voyage around the world in 25 rooms,” the Hôtel du Continent is the fourth Parisian hotel to be given a makeover by Christian Lacroix.

Located on Rue du Mont Thabor in the city’s first arrondissement, a stone’s throw from the Place Vendôme, the historic three-star establishment with its new design takes visitors on a journey through the continents, seen through the eyes of “yesterday’s travelers,” according to Lacroix.

“Today, the Hôtel du Continent not only encompasses the continent of Europe, it also includes all the others. One on each floor. But there are six floors and five continents! We could have considered splitting the Americas into North and South... However, we chose instead to invent a sixth continent, the North and South Poles – Arctic and Antarctic,” said the designer in a press release.

“Naturally, all six continents were designed without any attempt to provide a faithful ethnic or anthropological portrait, but rather with the whimsical distance of yesterday’s travelers, who brought back not just scientific information, but also countless fables and fantasies, plying the Parisians of the time with as many legends and [utopian] folklore as genuine facts.”

References from all six continents color the site’s entire ground floor, including the lobby and breakfast room, in an exotic mix of vibrant tapestries, furniture, prints, postcards and fabrics with patterns and embroidery drawn from the four corners of the world.Features in the rooms include cross-leg writing desks, wooden headboards with large headrests upholstered in velvet, and wall murals adorned with old maps and symbols, in keeping with the proposed destination.

“Africa” is the most richly vibrant of all the floors, with a décor alternating between precious fabrics and kitsch wallpaper, Tangier gird patterns and trees with clusters of flowers and traditional embroidery. The “America” floor is less visually chaotic, using the same décor — bold 1960s and 1970s-style motifs — on the walls and curtains, a geometric carpet inspired by Memphis, and 19th century bamboo chairs covered in panther fabric, while the “Antartic” theme, with its off-white palette and clean-line furniture, offers a fittingly cooler feel.

The rooms at Hôtel du Continent come in three sizes, with rates ranging from 125 euros to 400 euros.